Fragrance influence in the workplace

I work in culinary. It's hot, greasy, stressful and usually a royal pain in the ass. Like most of you, I wear scent every day regardless of work, gym, social, at home, etc....
I find that, after a 2 or 3 hour rush, a few spritzes is as effective as a shot of cappuccino for revival purposes.

Where I work, everyone from the owners to my co-workers know I'm a cologne enthusiast and sometimes they will comment on what I happen to be wearing. For the last year or so, a few regular customers, workers and even the owner have asked to try whatever it is I happen to be wearing that day. They know I bring a travel atomizer with me which I keep in my extra clip-on cell phone holder.

Keep in mind that I wear everything from a $10 bottle of Deauville Pour Homme ( TJMAXX) to Mazzolari.....depending on my mood. The ones they have tried and liked the best? Guerlain Heritage EDT, Romeo Gigli, KL Homme, Cool Water and Kouros.

I have already sold some juice to a customer at his insistence and now he is wanting a bottle of Kouros. I find this amusing due to not only what they liked, but that I'm actually having an cologne influence on those around me.

Without trying, who else here has an effect on those in close proximity due to your scent?

Re: Fragrance influence in the workplace

I work in an office that's full of attractive, well-dressed women. [No, we are not hiring.] When I started wearing better fragrances to work, and the women asked me about them, I noticed that several started wearing more and better fragrances too. Very cool effect.

Re: Fragrance influence in the workplace

Great threat, Aromi!

First off, I work in a bar/restuarant-- front of the house-- and so our jobs are in complementary spheres. I really have a lot of respect for the guys and gals that work on the line, back in the hot kitchen. I've worked in food prep before and it's just as you described it. I know how far a little refresher of cologne goes in making you feel revitalized.

To be honest, one of the main reasons I got into this cologne thing dates back to when I was 17-18 years old and working an unglamorous job flipping burgers. I would be wading around in a constant world of grease and sweat. It was disgusting. At the time, being a teenager/young adult trying to look cool/impress girls, it was an embarrassing job. I hated it. I developed an OCD habit of trying to keep myself clean (rubbing bars of soap into my skin, using talcum powder). The result was worse than the problem I was trying to fix. I don't even want to get into it all, but it was a horrible time. I was convinced that the grease was always there and that I could smell it even after I stepped out of a shower. When I say OCD, it was serious.

Around that time, I had been using some cheap fragrances to freshen up with-- Preferred Stock, Actif Blue, an old bottle of Polo, some cheap CK one knockoff called "Melrose Place" that I got at Sam Goody (Oddly, I got a TON of compliments on that Melrose Place). For Christmas, my uncle bought me a coffret of Hugo Boss scents.

I loved Elements and Hugo and these became signature scents for me. I went over to a classmate's house and saw that he had five or six bottles of good cologne (CKOne, Polo Sport, Cool Water, etc) and I thought "WOW, this dude's got a ton of nice colognes". I wanted to be like him. I started hanging around the fragrance counters at the mall. I bought CKBe, Polo Sport, Drakkar Noir, Curve, Eternity for Men, etc.

At that point I was becoming worried. I knew that at the exact point at which I had 11 bottles of cologne that this was a "problem". I didn't want my friends and family to see my new obsession (or my new bottle of CK Obsession for Men either) and think I was "funny" so I started hiding my drobe, leaving about 4 scents on my dresser and keeping the rest hidden.

Nobody really knew how "into it" I was until I'd gotten my drobe to 50 and then had to tell my brother ( because we were going to be roommates). Eventually, I relaxed a little bit and the "metro" craze was going on, so it wasn't so much a big deal to tell people. And by that point I'd discovered Basenotes and a whole new world had opened up. I wanted to make my own scents someday. That was one of my goals in life.

So I spent a LOT of time buying scents, studying pyramids, etc. Then when I finally got my beginners perfumers organ I realized autodidactic perfumery was MUCH more difficult than I thought it was going to be. I got so discouraged at first.

Long story short, yesterday was kind of a big milestone for me. I sold my first bottle of my own fragrance to a paying customer! I'm working on developing a line, and the big rollout could still be a few years away-- I'm going to begin on a local level-- my first phase will be one of learning the ropes of business (I have a business consultant who is helping me with everything), and selling scents in local boutiques/hair salons/etc. I want to use the experience from this phase to get me through whatever mistakes I might make before I do it on a bigger level.

A few months ago, we held a focus group where my business consultant invited a group of people to her place and my scents were in blank tester bottles, labeled 1-8. I also provided sample vials so they could take samples of whatever they wanted. I got a lot of useful feedback on my scents. The weird thing is how some people loved some scents and were cold on a few, while others had the complete opposite taste.

The odd thing is that I got a request to buy a bottle of one of my scents-- and it was actually the one scent that managed to get a lukewarm response from the group in general. It was a dark, rich lavender scent with incense and leather. One of the guys had taken a sample with him and wore it to a bar. He wound up getting a lot of compliments from women as it worked really well with his skin chemistry. He had to buy a bottle, so I bottled some up and yesterday and brought it to work. My business consultant took the bottle to give to the guy (never met him) and gave me his money. It felt really good to finally make money from perfumes rather than always spending. The best part was that it wasn't a friend buying a bottle to be nice, but rather a total stranger who requested a bottle merely for the fact that it helped him score women. That's the test to know that you're on the right track!

Hopefully in the next couple of years, I'll go to phase 2, which is where my line gets its official release and everything rolls out. I want to do it right though at every stage. There are a lot of new niche lines springing up, some better than others-- I don't want to do it if it's not going to be something that fills a vaccuum in some way. I'm extremely excited.

OK, that veered off the topic of Aromi's thread a bit, but I wanted to show how my unfortunate work environment influenced me to look toward a career path as a perfumer.

Often, at work, my coworkers will ask me about scents and I'll make them samples of either my stuff or things from my drobe. A couple of years ago, a coworker wanted a good Fall fragrance, so I made him about 20 samples of different things that I like in Autumn. I was surprised that his favorite was Bel Ami.

One of my busboys is having issues with his cologne. Nobody likes the stuff he's wearing now and he told me that he's been keeping the bottle in the glovebox of his car and it's gone bad. I gave him the 101 of fragrance storage and application. I'm making him a small drobe of sample vials to wear so he can pick something he likes-- he thinks Light Blue is the sh!t and I want him to see that there are a lot more options in the world.

Re: Fragrance influence in the workplace

I just love these personal stories! And congrats Indie_Guy! Don't forget us when you've become famous...

My fragrance-wearing habit hasn't exactly put me on everyone's radar yet but it will, soon enough. I do some freelance writing and an article on local fragrance-buying culture is in the pipeline (sorta spreading some Basenotes' erm.. gospel. ). While I'm far from being a flamboyant dresser, preferring the classic or preppy looks, interestingly though my sense of style has gained the attention of the colleagues I work with; of all things, these young women are now asking for my opinion on clothes & accessories! LOL. What next? Fragrance??

Re: Fragrance influence in the workplace

Originally Posted by Andrewthecologneguy

Indie Guy, I want a sample of some of your creations. Please hit me up. I will pay too.

In due time. Though my scents can work well without context-- ie. no name, from a blank tester, in a bar full of strangers(and I'm very encouraged by that)-- exposing my scents to Basenotes will be what I consider going primetime. I have to be ready on every level--and I know Basenoters have a different set of criteria. It's like cooking for chefs! Gotta do it only when the time is right. I've shared some of my stuff with a few members on a few occasions and have gotten good feedback-- and now, my abilities are much better. Still, a big part of what I want to do will span across a few forms of media. I can't give much away at this point, but I have some concepts that I am so excited about. There are some huge gaping holes in what could be in the perfume world, and trust me-- some of you guys are going to be saying "This is wonderful on so many levels. Why didn't anybody ever do this?" Still, to get to the point of execution will take more time and a fair amount of money (my parents are loaning me some startup money) as well as help from people I know who have their own unique talents.

I'm a perfectionist. I promise it will be worth the wait.

Last edited by Indie_Guy; 2nd October 2010 at 09:23 PM.
Reason: punctuation

Re: Fragrance influence in the workplace

I've had a few male co-workers ask what I was wearing, write the name down, and ask where to buy it for their wives. (specifically: Angel, Bulgari pour Femme, L'Instant, and Baiser du Dragon.) I've had several female co-workers fall in love with my fragrance and want it for themselves. (Angel, Coney Island, Fire Island, and Hypnose.) Even my SIL bought Angel after smelling it on me for all these years. I've had too many people to count ask me my opinion on their favorite scents. Two of my nieces will even text me while shopping to ask if I've heard of a fragrance they are thinking of buying.

I like the idea that I'm influencing people in some small way. It's very flattering to have family and friends want my opinion and ask for my advice. Some even act interested in hearing about classic perfumes or niche scents or wearing men's colognes or my dream of going to Paris for a fragrance shopping trip.

Re: Fragrance influence in the workplace

Wow... what a great thread! I guess I'm surprised that folks in the culinary industry can also be frag enthusiatsts without getting criticized by the managament. And I thought the essay by Indie_Guy was really outstanding.

Lately, I am being more careful about my dress, and I also see that nice clothes and a fragrance in the workplace really can make a difference. Now, that might sound kind of clueless, particularly if you've spent your life in the city or an office, but I've spent most of my life outdoors on a farm. I'm still learning the subtleties of sophisticated living!

Re: Fragrance influence in the workplace

I work mainly from my own home, almost exclusively translating with the help of my Acer notebook, so, apparently I wouldn't even need any fragrance, because during these moments my attire is "whatever I'm wearing at home". But even so, I noticed- OK, it might be a placebo effect or not- that whenever I put on one of my fave fragrances (and there are few or no frags in my wardrobe not liked by me), even if I'm not leaving my four walls that day, my focus, my efficiency and capacity to relax increased, with positive influence on my professional life

Also, on those rare occasions when I'm interpreting during very formal events and locations, a mild, careful application of a fine fragrance can project a slightly more interesting, complex and beneficial image than the generic "young fragrance-free professional", and since none of these events were explicitly described as compulsory fragrance-free, why not enjoy a nice frag even in public?

Re: Fragrance influence in the workplace

I think I have made people around think about fragrance in a different way. I talk about fragrance with friends, and I think I have made some of them aware of perfume as something more than just the idea of a signature scent, or something you wear to attract the sex of your choice. A few have bought bottles because of me, and one or two have developed a deeper interest in fragrance.